For more than forty years, the North Carolina Folklife Institute has worked alongside other nonprofits to promote awareness of the state’s shifting cultural practices, covering a broad array of food, music, arts, and vocations. Recently, it worked with the North Carolina Arts Council to present the 2016 and 2017 National Folk Festivals. The former focused on cultural expressions brought to the state by “new” North Carolinians, while the latter will showcase the next generation of torchbearers, who are reinterpreting tradition.

“We aren’t interested in preservation—because that tends to stop the creation—as much as raising the awareness that artwork and expressions people create are valuable demonstrations of who they are and their place in the world,” explains NC Folk’s interim director, Evan Hatch. “There’s art that everyday folks do that’s worth every bit as much as the symphony and the ballet.”

The creation continues this Thursday, when the organization throws a party at Motorco featuring Blue Cactus, Josh Moore Band, John Dee Holeman, and the Five Points Rounders to raise money for a pro-Lumbee initiative in Robeson County. The INDY recently spoke with Hatch about the ongoing importance and vibrancy of regional folk traditions, even in a global digital era.